


Waking up next to somebody

by Mrs_Moony



Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: M/M, Mentions of Violence, Mickey Milkovich & Mandy Milkovich - Freeform, Mickey owns a dog, Mugging
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-30
Updated: 2017-12-30
Packaged: 2019-02-24 06:46:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,114
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13208208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mrs_Moony/pseuds/Mrs_Moony
Summary: Mickey is lonely; or was, actually, but he's not gonna admit that he likes the little fluffball. Absolutely not.





	Waking up next to somebody

 

 

Mickey didn't even _want_ the freaking dog.

He's told Mandy several times during the two weeks of her convincing him that he needed just that, but it seems like it flew right over her, since there she was, a goddamn puppy in her hands and the biggest smile plastered on her face as she strode into his apartment.

That was almost a year ago.

At first, Mickey and the dog Did Not Get Along.

He refused to call him anything other than Dog for the first four days, and eventually, Mandy ran out of patience and bought him a collar that said _Leo_.

“Like the constellation,” she said, proud of herself for coming up with something like that, and though Mickey hadn't admitted it just yet, he liked it. So the name stuck, and eventually, he started warming up to the fluffy creature.

 

Mickey groans in frustration at the second interruption that evening. He's actually enjoying this crappy TV show, so fucking what? Two brothers hunting evil spirits and demons? Sign him the fuck up. First, it was a commercial, and now his bell is ringing like crazy.

“Don't bust the door, Jesus,” he mutters as he gets off the couch and goes to open the door, frowning. It's Mandy, of course, she makes sure to visit at least once a week since she got back, and Mickey would lie if he said he didn't enjoy seeing her. The two grew up without ever really bonding, and as soon as they got out from the hellhole that was their old house, things started changing. It was a long, bumpy road, but small steps are still steps. The first time Mickey had said “I love you” was to Mandy, and she was the only one who ever said it back.

“The hell you doing here?” he asks as he opens the door and steps back, letting her walk in. She just rolls her eyes and presses the bag she's been holding in his arms as she steps into the apartment. It's some sort of take-out, judging by the smell, and he's halfway about to thank her when she drops to the ground where Leo is snoring the day away and coos at him.

“Hi, sweetie! You hungry? I brought you some fancy stuff. Much better than what this asshole is feeding you, I swear. Want a belly rub? Yeah?” The dog is up immediately, waggling his tail and licking her hands as she pets him.

“Stop with the baby talk, he's a grown ass dog.”

Mandy just glares his way, but he drops the subject and goes to the kitchen instead. The mention of him not feeding Leo well enough gets to him. So what if he's a bit hypocritical? Nobody needs to know how much he likes to spoil the dog, especially not Mandy. She's had enough of her _told you so_ moments when he got his GED and found a legitimate job.

“Got any plans for tonight?” Mandy asks as she goes to wash her hands, watching him heat the Thai food she brought and pull out the plates. He rolls his eyes because she knows full well he doesn't.

“What do you think?”

“It's Friday, come on. We haven't been out together for ages.” She crosses her arms over her chest and raises her eyebrows, apparently expecting an answer.

Mickey takes his time and busies himself with the food, bringing it to the coffee table in his living room and putting on the music channel. He then sits down and takes his plate, and sure enough, Mandy's there in an instant, nudging him in the ribs.

“Hey!” he yells out, smacking her hand away. “I'm trying to eat here.”

“I wanna go out!” she exclaims, throwing her head against the headrest, and that's when Mickey notices she's wearing a clubbing outfit. A black, high-waist skirt, dark blue top and some dark lipstick. He shakes his head and dives into the food.

“No one's stopping ya.”

Leo jumps onto the couch and Mickey lets it slide, mostly because he hasn't actually bought him any dog bed so he usually sleeps either here or with Mickey. He at least pretends to be angry about it, but the huge, brown eyes and enormous paws make him soft. Jesus.

Mandy drops the topic then, but it's clear that she still plans on dragging him out. They eat and talk a bit about her boyfriend Gale who's, surprisingly, a pretty nice guy. She's told him a couple weeks ago that they're planning on moving in together, but she hasn't brought it up again until now.

“There's this house we both like,” she says, biting her lip nervously. Mickey looks at her expectantly, but Mandy just keeps staring at her hands.

“So what's the problem?” he asks, “You've been wanting to move forever, right?”

She nods, sighing. “It's in New York. When we went there to visit his parents, Gale said we could go house-hunting, if I wanted. I wasn't sure then, definitely didn't plan on picking one but…” she looks up at him, a dreamy look on her face. “The house is perfect, Mick. It's big and old, in a good neighborhood that's not too preppy, either… I just…”

“That's perfect, Mands,” he says, smiling a bit. “I mean, it's not like you'd be leaving much behind. As long as you're happy, go for it.”

“Not sure I can get used to anything else than Chicago.”

He snorts at that. “Sure you will. It's all the same, and you can still visit every now and then.”

“Of course I'll visit!” She punches his arm with a smile. “I'd miss your ugly face.”

“Same,” he says, and it actually hits him that she'll probably leave soon. He got used to having her near, much closer than when they've been living together in more ways than one. It's gonna be shitty, but they can make it work. “New York's not the end of the world.”

They do go clubbing in the end.

Mandy waits for him outside while he puts on something more appropriate than sweatpants and a tank top, and as he's walking out of his bedroom in black skinny jeans (took him a long time to get used to those) and a dark blue t-shirt, he catches a glimpse of Leo on the kitchen counter.

“What did I tell you, little man,” he says, walking up to him and lifting him into his arms. Leo licks his face and Mickey tries to distract him by scratching behind his ears, which he likes a lot. He then puts him down and fills his bowls, petting him one last time before washing his hands and leaving the apartment.

Mandy takes him to a new club which she said is awesome, but the rude bartender has them leaving in a couple minutes. They got to four or five more before Mickey is basically a walking corpse, but Mandy's having so much fun and he knows they might not get a chance to do this for a while.

“Two doubles,” he yells, smiling back at the girl behind the bar. He keeps smiling after they down their shots and lets Mandy drag him to the dance floor, enjoying the buzz and enjoying the night out despite his tiredness.

After another couple hours, Mickey is truly beat, and Mandy's groaning by his side, too.

“Fucking heels, never again.”

They decide to go home, but it's a slow process, the reasons being the enormous amount of people in the club and the levels of alcohol in their systems.  Finally, they stagger out to the exit, but then someone bumps straight into Mickey and he feels wetness spreading on the front of his shirt.

“The fuck?” he squints, looking up and meeting the eyes of the stranger who looks pretty apologetic, so Mickey retreats from punching his face. He's having a good night, after all.

“Sorry, sorry, it's so packed in here, I must have stumbled or something. You alright?”

Mickey blinks, his brain finally registering the man's face and damn, it's a gorgeous face.

“My shirt's soaking wet,” he says, and the man chuckles, his red hair highlighted by the light show above them. “Sorry, I shouldn't laugh.”

“It's alright, we're leaving, actually. Don't worry about it.” He offers the stranger a half-smile when he sees his face drop a bit, but when he looks to his right where Mandy was supposed to be, she's gone.

“Dammit,” he says, looking around but not being able to find her.

“Your date run away?” Again, that stupid chuckle.

“My sister, she was right… Mandy!” Finally, he sees her at the bar, downing another shot, but before he can go after her, the redhead grabs his arm. Mickey fights another urge to throw a punch and turns around, eyebrows raised.

“Can I buy you a drink? As an apology?”

He considers it for a moment, looking at the undeniably hot stranger in front of him, but he's seriously beat and he and Mandy should go while their legs still work.

“Nah man, we should go. But thanks anyway.” The man shrugs and mutters something, but Mickey can't hear it in the noise, so he just gives him a nod before going after Mandy.

They catch a cab outside and go to Mickey's, where Mandy crashes on the couch while Mickey collapses into bed next to Leo, falling asleep almost immediately.

 

“Morning, asshole.”

Mickey frowns, his head thumping as he realizes that something soft hit him in the face. He opens his eyes and sees Mandy in the doorway, sipping her coffee as she looks at him funny.

“The hell you staring at?”

“I knew you loved the dog,” she says, the shit-eating grin spreading across her face. Mickey looks sits up in confusion and finds Leo curled behind his back, snoring lightly.

“Well you took his spot on the couch,” he mutters getting up with a groan. “Is there more coffee?”

“On the counter. I gotta go, Gale's picking me up for lunch in an hour.”

“How do you never get hangovers?”

“Because I'm an adult and know how to drink,” she laughs, leaving the room. Mickey picks up some fresh clothes and, with them in hand, goes to pour himself a cup before heading to the shower. Mandy's already packing her bag, looking for keys until he points them out on the bookshelf.

“Alright, see you on Friday.”

“Huh?” he asks, raising his hands when she sends him a death glare.

“The barbecue with Gale's parents, did you forget?”

“No,” he lies, and Mandy just rolls her eyes as she walks up to him for a hug. “Be there,” she mumbles as they part, and then she's gone, leaving Mickey to his aspirin and quiet.

He likes it, but sometimes he just…

“Leo,” he whistles, abandoning the shower for now and pulling out the leftovers which he then drops into Leo's bowl. “You hungry?”

Leo is up in a second, running around his legs like crazy before Mickey sets the bowl aside. “Good boy,” he mutters, petting the dog and cleaning up the few bits he managed to spill already. “You make a hell of a mess, though.”

The next weekend is gone soon, and the next week in work is probably the worst Mickey's ever had. The new boss is a douche and his colleagues are getting on his nerves more than before. He doesn't complain though, knowing fully well that the pay is great and definitely worth it, it's just a shitty week. He doesn't really admit it to himself, but it's probably because of Mandy. Friday showed him how much she belongs with Gale and his folks, and he's totally happy for her, it just dawned on him that besides her, he doesn't really have much. There's Leo and two or three people at work that are okay to talk to sometimes, but it's not the same.

Mandy leaves two weeks after that, and he helps her pack, but it's not as bad as he expected. He's already invited to visit, as soon as they settle down a bit, and he doesn't even give her a snarky response, just nods and hugs her goodbye before he leaves the apartment.

“Wanna go for a walk?” Mickey says to Leo one Sunday afternoon, bored out of his mind and knowing that he shouldn't spend his whole weekend inside.

They walk around the streets before ending up in the park where they play fetch for a bit, but luckily, Leo goes on an exploration mission soon, leaving Mickey to catch his breath. He never loses sight of him, even though he knows that Leo wouldn't run away like that, but it starts getting dark soon and Mickey whistles for Leo to come back.

“Time to go, buddy,” he says, putting him on his leash.

The walk out of the park and back through the streets, pausing only when Mickey notices Leo's tiredness and considers carrying him back, mentally cursing himself for letting him exhaust himself this much.

Leo licks his hand gratefully when they stop in an alley and Mickey squats down and pours some water into a bowl he carries around, letting him drink while he checks his phone for the time.

“Your phone and wallet, now.”

Mickey freezes when he feels a knife pressed into his side, cursing himself once again for not being careful enough. The man behind him smells like trash and there's another voice, too. Unarmed and outnumbered, Mickey doesn't stand a chance. Fuck. 

“Alright,” he says slowly, lifting his phone for the man to take and reaching into his pocket.

Leo starts barking and as the man growls, snatching Mickey's wallet and kicking Leo hard when he tries to bite his leg. Mickey fights off the jerk and elbows him hard, turning around swiftly with a newfound rage, but the cowards are running away before he can throw a punch.

He turns back into an alley, fear embodying itself in his face as he looks at the spot where Leo landed.

“Leo?” he calls, his heart beating faster when he can't spot him anywhere. He searches the whole place, calling for his dog, but he can't find him. After about two hours, he's nearly desperate. He's searched through all the closest streets but Leo's nowhere to be found.

Defeated, Mickey walks back to his apartment, ignoring the burning of tears in his eyes. He wants to call Mandy, but his phone is gone. His wallet was lying a few feet away, emptied of money of course, but the rest was there.

He lies down on his unmade bed, turning around and realizing how cold it is all of a sudden. He wakes up in a few hours with red-rimmed eyes and a headache, but he gets up anyway, puts on some clothes and googles the nearest place where he can print out some flyers.

Three hours later, he's already stuck them all over the area and is at a loss for what he should do know. Before all this, he went out and bought a new phone, thankful for the small amount of savings on his account, and set up a new number so that he could put it on the flyers. He still hasn't called Mandy but decides against it; why stress her out even more? It's not like she could help him.

Mickey ends up going to a coffee shop down the street, realizing he never got to finish his cup from the morning. The warm coffee soothes him at least a little, but he still stares at the phone anxiously the whole time he's in there. It seems like the nice, middle-aged waitress notices something is off because she brings him a muffin he didn't order and gives him a kind smile.

“On the house,” she says. “Tomorrow's a new day.”

He just nods, surprised by the kind gesture.

The rest of the day goes by in a haze, and only halfway through it does Mickey realize that it's Monday, and he hasn't called in sick.

He rushes home and finds his bosses number on their page before calling and explaining about the mugging, and how he had to get a new phone as well and by some miracle, he's able to keep the job. Which leaves him with nothing to do for the rest of the day, so he goes out some more and repeats the search from yesterday, once again coming home empty handed.

It's only two days later when the phone rings.

Mickey wasn't yet ready to give up, but he was becoming hopeless, finally calling Mandy and letting her comfort him the night before. She suggested she'd come back, but he dismissed her, knowing it would be selfish and not much help, anyway.

But then, as he was showering after work, he heard the generic ringtone, meaning it couldn't be Mandy whose song will always be the shitty remix of that Westlife song. He almost trips on his clothes as he runs out of the shower, picking up frantically.

“Hello?” Whoever it is takes too long to answer.

“Oh, hey, I'm calling about the dog? Leo? I've seen the flyers.”

“You saw him?” Mickey asks quickly, cutting the man off. He doesn't care how pathetically hopeful it comes out. At this point, he doesn't fucking care at all.

“Yeah, I found him two days ago on my porch. Didn't know who to call since there was just the name on his collar, but I just found the flyer today. Should I drop him off or do you want the address?”

Mickey pulled the phone away for half a second, taking in a shaky breath and blinking away the tears.

“I, uh, I'll come pick him up, if that's alright. Thanks for taking him in, really.”

He receives a text with an address soon after and is on his way in no time, packing Leo's favorite toy and some blankets so that he can rest in the car. Mickey's hands shake the whole time as he's driving, but he forces himself to calm down, not too keen on ending up in a goddamn car accident.

The apartment is a bit further from where the mugging happened than he expected, and an awful feeling of being tricked settles in his chest. What if this is just a cruel joke?

Mickey takes a few breaths and calls the guy, letting him know he's waiting downstairs. It only takes a minute for him to open the door, thank god.

“Hey,” Mickey blurts out, restraining himself from pushing past the guy and getting his dog, but then he stops, frowning.

“Hi, he's sleeping upstairs I thought you might wanna… Oh! I know you! From the club, remember? I'm Ian.”

Mickey connects the dots and accepts the offered handshake, images of his and Mandy's last night out filling his head.

“You poured your drink all over me” he laughs, but it sounds breathy and anxious. “Look man, I'm really worried about him so if you don't mind…” He makes an effort not to sound too hostile, but it still comes out a bit rough. Ian nods and steps back immediately.

“Of course!”

They walk up to the second floor and through the only door on the left. Mickey follows Ian inside and – finally – his eyes settle on Leo, his black fur almost blending in with the towel nest he's resting in. He gets down to him immediately, touching him carefully so that he doesn't wake him up.

“Fuck, you're okay,” he mutters, once again having to blink away tears.

“Thank you,” he says, looking away from Leo at last. “Shit… I totally forgot.” He stands up and pulls out his wallet, frowning when he only finds a couple small bills there.

“Woah, stop,” Ian says, holding his hands up. “Keep your money. I won't take a penny for this. Besides, I threw a drink at you so, technically, I owe you.”

“Bullshit,” Mickey says, realizing that he never gave Ian his name. “I'm Mickey, by the way. You have no idea what it meant that you took care of him, man.”

“Like I said, Mickey, it was nothing,” he smiles. “Uh, why don't you sit down for a bit? He didn't sleep well last night so you might want not want to wake him just yet. I could make some coffee or tea? Or beer, if that's better?” Ian's already halfway into the coffee-making as he spits all this, so Mickey just goes with it, deciding that maybe he could stay a little while.

“Coffee's good, thanks.” He sits down on the sofa as close to Leo as possible and watches him sleep, smiling.

“How did he get lost, anyway?” Ian asks as he hands him a cup, sitting down next to him with his own.

Mickey frowns, his fists clenching as he remembers. “I got mugged as we were walking back home. One of the assholes kicked Leo across the street, so I fought the one who was holding me off, but by the time they ran away, I couldn't find him anywhere.”

“That's awful,” Ian says, shaking his head. “Fucking monsters. Glad he's okay, and that you found him.”

“It was thanks to you.” Mickey looks at Ian again, finding a soft smile on his face. Their eyes lock for a second or two, but Mickey breaks it off, already feeling the redness rise in his cheeks.

“He's a nice dog. Found him by the main entrance when I was coming back from work, he was sleeping but then he looked up at me and it was the cutest thing. So I stayed down there for a bit, let him come up to me eventually.” Ian shrugs, glancing at Mickey with a smile. “Kinda makes me want to get a dog.”

“Well he's not usually so keen on meeting strangers,” he laughs, finding it hard to look away once Ian's eyes caught him in a stare. The anxiousness is slowly falling off him as he sips the coffee with Leo in his line of sight. Eventually, Leo wakes up and Mickey can't contain the happiness, nuzzling him and basically doing all the shit he hates when Mandy does with him. Ian keeps smiling through their reunion, letting out a surprised yelp when Leo jumps into his lap as well, trying to lick his face like he did with Mickey's.

“He really does like you.”

“I'm charming like that.” Ian winks and Mickey tries not to stare at his lips like a creep as he does so, unsure whether he's interpreting all these signals right. But as time goes on, the remarks and smiles and stares that last just a bit too long continue, and by the time Leo starts nudging his arm, probably signalling that he wants to go home, Mickey is pretty sure that Ian likes him.

The thought sends a smile on his face.

 

“Hey Mickey,” Ian says, stopping him with a grip on his shoulder as he's leaving the apartment a good twenty minutes later. “I promised you a drink last time. Think you'll make time for me?” He looks less cocky and more hopeful this time, leaning against the doorframe like he's James fucking Dean. Mickey fights the urge to roll his eyes and push him back into the apartment.

“Is this an apology drink or a date?” He asks instead, needing to be sure.

Ian's smirk is a reward in and on itself for the risk.

“Not an apology. I'll make it up to you one day, but I can't let you leave without knowing I'll see you soon.”

“Deal,” he says, forcing himself to step back. “You got my number.” With that, Mickey turns around and walks away, hearing Ian's distant chuckle before the door closes.

A couple minutes into his drive home, he receives a text.

_Give Leo a kiss for me. He's just as cute as his owner._

Mickey smiles but waits with the reply until he's safely inside, Leo fed and content on his spot on the couch. He types out the text and hits send, then throws his phone on the table with a smile as he walks to the shower.

_Come and do it yourself sometime. Leo's not too fond of kisses though. His owner, on the other hand…_

When he comes back from the shower, there's another text. Mickey lies down next to Leo and puts on his show as he reads it.

_Your delivery of kisses is packed and ready. What's the address?_

 

**Author's Note:**

> I needed to distract myself by writing something cute, hope you all liked it!! there will probably be a sequel with the actual date


End file.
